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A Filmmaker's Guide to: Montages in Cinema

Film Studies (Pt.114)

By Annie KapurPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.

Montages in Cinema

What are they?

Montages are series or sequences of images and/or videos made to increase the passage of time perceived in a particular film/TV show. They can be used to show how time has gone by, or even to show the perception of time by the characters involved in the scene(s).

How are they used in cinema?

Montages can be used in many, many different ways in cinema. They can, as we have seen, be used to show a character's perception of time and/or increase the passage of time. Other ways in which it can be used would be to change the way we, the viewer, feel about the time going by within a movie. For example: to slow down time would put emphasis on a particular part of the film, such as a slow-mo scene. But, a faster passage of time shown in a montage sequence, can also make the scene stand out amongst the film, leaving the viewer searching for the meaning of skipping over time in this fashion.

Case Study: Requiem for a Dream (2000)

When I first watched "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), though I did not particular enjoy the film being a 16-year-old skeptic, I was enthralled by the use of montage. Just take a look at this scene from the film:

What do we notice?

Well, the very first thing we notice is that there is a passage of time. The passage of time is sped up, but not to skim over the subject. Instead, it is sped up in order to make us notice it on purpose. We are going to notice not just the passage of time, but we are also going to see what this has to do with the other items we are about to see in the scene.

What do we see in the scene?

We see usage of things that are not strictly speaking legal, we see money and we see characters. When we see these things in quick succession, obviously our brain is going to make connections between these items, these characters, this passage of time and the very nature of the storyline. When we make this connection, we understand more wholly - how the story is being told and why.

Conclusion

Another film you can view this method in is “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” in which sequences can be not only used to make certain things stand out, but passages of time in montages are also slowed down or morphed in order to make us see something else, another side of the montage that we may return to in future articles.

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About the Creator

Annie Kapur

190K+ Reads on Vocal.

English Lecturer

🎓Literature & Writing (B.A)

🎓Film & Writing (M.A)

🎓Secondary English Education (PgDipEd)

📍Birmingham, UK

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